Snow Patrol - A Band That Shouldn't Be

After reading countless articles or reviews, and hearing countless accolades from friends in support of the up and coming band, Snow Patrol, I was expecting one hell of a super group. What I got was probably the most derivative, cliché, and gimmick laden group this side of the entire fucking galaxy. If it was possible to sleep standing up it would have been the best alternative to actually being there, since at least when you sleep you don’t have to listen to some mongoloid from Scotland praising the current state he’s in and saying “y’all.” If you like Snow Patrol and credit them as “indie rock” or “the next big thing” I’m sorry, you have no taste in music, in fact, I would wager you are at the very least partially deaf. Snow Patrol’s only redeeming quality is their brief catalog of music—that they actually choose to acknowledge—which limits the duration of their concerts.

Snow Patrol is a band you are probably just hearing about - even if the first album you've ever seen in stores is actually their third full length release (with a myriad of EP’s and singles as well). Funny, I don't remember hearing about this band before 2004—ever—and this IS that HOT new band I’ve been hearing SO much about. When you listen to this “band” you start to wonder if it’s really a band at all; if these three or four (or however many) guys really care about the music or if they are a manufactured product. Well, we might finally have an answer to that question.

Snow Patrol’s first two full length records were released on Jeepster, a small, relatively obscure label home to a band that doesn’t sound like everything else: Belle & Sebastian. Care to take a guess as to what label their “critically acclaimed breakout record” was released on? Yes, it is a major American corporate entity. Why yes, they did release Lindsay Lohan’s last record—to use the term record loosely. Snow Patrol released their hit record with the backing of Universal Records, and the sense of overproduction is overwhelming. I haven’t even listened to the album, but if their performance was any indication it is clear they are nothing without their studio.

The bane of a major label contract is overproduction. Snow Patrol are attempting to play some dream pop or pseudo shoegaze, they’ve even been compared to My Bloody Valentine, but for whatever reason they felt the need to use effects and a sampler, which do nothing for their formulaic, water downed, poor mans “modern rock.” Whatever genre they are trying to play, or consider themselves a part of, they only sound like one genre live: generic pop. The band plays on stage with somewhere in the neighborhood of a billion flashing lights; exploding in an orgy of discombobulated epileptic nightmare behind the pale white band members. As any magician knows, it’s all about misdirection—the smoke and mirrors were fooling the entire audience; throwing their hands in the air as if this orgasmic lightshow and goofy smiling was an amazing spectacle to behold, as if the band had somehow turned the dirty water that is their music into the finest of wines.

Since I haven’t listened to their latest record—and never will—I can only guess as to the meaning of the lyrics of the songs, and why I felt as if I was participating in a twisted telethon to raise money for Southern Baptists in need of a constant war against homosexuals or some other ecclesiastical affair. While there was no clear lyrical agenda, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Gary Lightbody—even his name sounds like some Christian evangelist; staring intently in your eyes through a television, sweating profusely, poised to sell us something that might cure cancer or reinstate an Anglo hegemony—was putting on a Christian Rock concert at the expense of every lighthearted and naïve attendee. Even when his lyrics made no sense, or were just ridiculous—such as my favorite line, “God only knows what Brian Wilson was thinking…”—the crowd seemed to go wild, waving their hands in the air at their messiah. Was anybody actually listening to the words of the song? Was anybody even listening to the song, for that matter? This guy could have been confessing a string of serial rapes and murders while picking his teeth clean of human bone fragments, nobody would have noticed.

It’s the kind of music that can’t offend anybody because there’s no substance to it; it’s a bunch of guys going through the motions of caring about their music and their message. I guess if I had somehow convinced the entire world my band was something special I would probably ride the wave too, because what’s the point of having a message and making awesome music when you don’t get a fat check at the end of the day? If anybody actually listened to what Gary Lightbody and the rest of his band was saying it would be impossible to like the band. Nothing they're saying has any weight, nothing about them has gravity. They’re just floating through the music industry making a “splash” thanks to a couple extra thousands of dollars in the studio and a serialized aesthetic. Snow Patrol is just an image, with ironic T-Shirts admonishing drug use while simultaneously singing a song with references to ecstasy; it’s a façade.

That’s the very nature of Snow Patrol; they aren’t really a band—at least not anymore. They’re just a product and an image: with flashing lights and pretty colors, with minimal epithets, and songs referencing Brian Wilson. Without a producer mixing their product the songs all begin to bleed into one another, and at that point, the bright lights and eerily jovial Europeans attempt to make up for the lack in audial quality. It’s the age old trick of misdirection, and boy did it ever work on a sold out crowd in Dallas this evening. Thankfully Snow Patrol will eventually fade into obscurity, and the next big thing will replace them. A different name, the same sound, and that all too loving crowd will be back in Dallas waving their hands for their new God, whether they realize it or not.

Is this it?

Medio Victim, one of many cool shirts from Threadless

I found an interesting garment manufacturer printing some pretty chic t-shirts. If you are in the market for some cool clothes take a look here, chances are pretty good nobody you know will have the same shirt - unlike the shirts Urban sells...

"How cold your body can be"

I've been a huge fan of the Anniversary since 11th grade, and the lack of tabs on the internet makes me sad. I've tabbed this song out because my brother is starting to learn guitar and really wants to learn this song. If anybody is familiar with guitar, the Anniversary, this song, or anything else that could help me get this right, please post a comment or contact me with any corrections. I will add the disclaimer that this is my first tab - although I did tab a Bright Eyes song, "Everything Must Belong Somewhere," with few descrepencies to a version I found online.

Edit: Apparently the alignment was basically destroyed when I posted this. For a properly aligned version look here.

Edit: I've recorded enough of my tab to form a comparison, listen to it and compare it with the original and let me know what you think. ( I recorded my version with a computer mic which is part of a pair of headphones. In other words, sorry about my breathing but the mic was right next to my face. )

The Anniversary
"Sweet Marie" Chords
Standard Tuning

C - 032010
E - 022100
E7 - 020100
E7* - 022130
F - 133211
Am - 002210
Asus2 - 000220
Dm - 000231

Verse I

C E7 F C
Sweet Marie, there's a hole where your heart should be
C E7 F C
And on the hill she's begging for a harmony
C E7 F C
Sweet Marie, there's a hole where your heart should be
C E7 F C
And on the hill she's begging for a harmony
C E7 F C
What beautiful lies you've been told
C E7 F C
What terrible truths drown your soul

Chorus

E F C Am Asus2 Am
She hides behind all my lies
Dm E7* Am Asus2 Am
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* Am Asus2 Am
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* F C F
Oh you need all my love tonight - all my love

Verse II

C E7 F C
Sweet Marie, how cold your body can be
C E7 F C
And on the hill she's begging for a harmony
C E7 F C
Such a beautiful kiss in the face of fear
C E7 F C
Such a beautiful song burns through your ears

Chorus

E F C Am Asus2
She hides behind all my lies
Dm E7* Am Asus2
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* Am Asus2
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* F C F
Oh you need all my love tonight - all my love

Solo

C E7 F C
C E7 F C
C E7 F C
C E7 F C

Bridge

Dm E7* Am Asus2
Dm E7* F C F

Chorus

Dm E7* Am Asus2
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* Am Asus2
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* Am Asus2
Oh you need to be loved
Dm E7* Am
Oh you need...

Creating Comic Book Effects With Photoshop

Scarlett Johansson, pretty as a picture

As you can see, this is a comparison of a picture before the photoshopping procedure and then after. This is a really great effect and I'm pleased with how this particular picture turned out. If you have photoshop check out the tutorial courtesy of MAKE:Blog.

Sin City - The Film Noir You Should Be Talking About

Sin City, Robert Rodriguez's most tolerable film yet

This movie was almost everything I thought it wouldn't be. To be honest, as soon as I found out that Rodriguez was directing I was bracing myself for a complete let down, this is the guy who made Once Upon A Time In Mexico; the most over the top, style over substance, action fest of a film. Oh yeah, he also wrote and directed every Spy Kids movie to date. Needless to say, his record has been a testament to his failure as a film maker. This was something completely different, but it's pretty clear why.

The reason this movie is a success is mostly because Rodriguez decided to use Frank Miller's established stories instead of adapting them to create his own interpretation. He couldn't make mistakes because the graphic novels were perfect story boards. Upon comparison, Rodriguez does a stellar job at recreating the comic book frames. This approach in making a film based on a comic book has largely been ignored in the past, and most of those movies have been lackluster or completely horrendous - like "The Hulk."

As for the film aesthetic, the digital approach worked for this movie. I didn't like the way this tehnique was implemented in "Sky Captain," but for some reason it worked for this movie - probably because it's based on a comic book and gave it a comic book feel. Obviously this type of film making has its pit falls, and there were several shots that didn't look right at all. Ultimately the film doesn't suffer from those brief shortcommings. The use of black and white gave it the noir feel while the occasional bursts of color added life to the dark streets of Sin City. I was totally expecting the digital effects to be the down fall of the film, assuming Rodriguez hadn't fucked it up, but the only major problem was solid performances from the cast.

The talent that they were able to get for this film is unbelievable. There were so many big name actors, it was really mind blowing (obviously celebrity doesn't automatically infer talent). There seemed to be a few actors who weren't convincing at all, and it's painful to watch them deliver their lines. The majority of the actors definitely were acting, but there were a few which were terrible throughout the film.

I would say if you haven't seen this movie go out and see it in the theater. If you aren't a fan of comic books, violence, black and white films, or digital film production you might want to stay clear of this one. This isn't just an action movie, so try to pay attention to themes - they are much more relevant then we might wish to admit.

A Google Approach To Math

Google is offering a school yard legend in storage, infinity + 1 

Google, creators of the much lauded Gmail, are offering additional storage to their Gmail members; infinity plus one. Ok, that's an April Fools joke, but they really are bumping it up to 2 gb.

active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening

I've had a domain for two years that I never could figure out how to use. Well, I knew what my options were: I could set up my own server on my network - which is technically against most service providers regulations, or I could pay a third party to host my website. At the time I thought it was an awesome idea to try to host it myself, the problem was I could never wrap my head around using servers correctly in a Linux environment - or any other environment, for that matter. So, after two years, I have finally caved in. I have acquired a webhost for my domain.

I'd been thinking alot recently about working with a website which wasn't limited by advertisements, bandwith, space, or any of the other vicissitudes "free providers" are characterized with. I wanted a place where I could consolidate things I was doing, and facilitate conversation and interaction between people. I wanted a place where I could write some code that ran on a webserver. I wanted a place to grow; in skill and maybe even marketability.

That place is ReadySetConnect. The same host used by the tech celebrities of the Broken (Kevin Rose, Dan Huard, Ramzi). The fact that they were using the same host isn't the reason why I ultimately chose ReadySetConnect, I was looking for an affordable and reputable provider. ReadySetConnect fit the bill. It's about as expensive as World of Warcraft, and much much much much more rewarding.

So, if you read this and you'd like to be involved in the project just let me know because I'll be happy to work with you - most likely. Until this weekend don't expect any further information regarding the website, as it's not exactly an easy task creating one (that's worth a damn).

"I bet I could throw this football over them mountains"

I came across this while reading Thighs Wide Shut, and while I usually don't find this type of video that funny. This was. Somebody took the infamous "Numa Numa" song and has matched it with the Napolean Jamiroquai dance footage. Check it out if you are into Napolean Dynamite, dancing, and pop songs sung in different languages.

In more serious news, Ben (Smash) of Smash's World has created a free wallpaper and picture service for many mobile phones and carriers. This comes as and addition to his famous Smash The Tones which was featured on G4's The Screen Savers - or whatever the fuck the network executives are calling that show this week. Check it out, and if you're feeling generous donate some money to him.